TELL Magazine

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the removal and replacement of Hadiza Bala-Usman, erstwhile managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA. Though no immediate reason was given officially for her removal, there are speculations that she may have been found guilty of insubordination to her supervising minister, Rotimi Amaechi who is the minister of transportation.

It is also believed that the ministry availed the president of certain reports that indicted her.

Bala-Usman, who had served as chief of staff to Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, was also said to have been found wanting in the course of her five-year tenure as chief executive of NPA.

The removal came as a surprise to many in the ministry and the parastatal because her tenure was supposed to end by July. Besides that, there were indications that she had already got the consent of the president for a second term in office.

But Amaechi was said to have been surprised that, as she had carried on almost contemptuous of him in the last five years, she could be promised a second term without an input from his office. He was said to have given a report of sharp practices during her tenure to the presidency. The decision of the president is said to be based on the confirmation of the allegations.

Meanwhile, the sacked Bala-Usman has been replaced with the agency’s Director of Finance, Mohammed Koko, as acting MD while her tenure is being investigated.